A jigging lure is an artificial lure consisting of a metal head, usually formed of lead, molded on the shank end of a hook. Jigging lures come in different shapes and sizes, usually with a dressing or a skirt of hair, feathers, nylon, rubber or plastic to conceal the barbed end section of the hook. Other jigging lures have no skirt or other dressing and are fished with an artificial or live bait.
Some jigging lures are designed to look like something good to eat from the fish's standpoint. Others look like nothing on this earth; whether the fish mistake them for food or strike them out of curiosity or anger is not known.
A conventional jigging lure can be cast and retrieved, trolled or jerked up and down vertically. Because the fishing line is attached to an eye on the metal head, jigs always ride head down with the hook facing up. This provides some degree of immunity to snags.
An expert fisherman who knows fish habits will often catch more and bigger fish on a jigging lure than an ordinary angler. Such a fisherman knows which jigging lure to use for a certain kind of fish, whether to attach a skirt or an artificial or live bait, which water and depth it is designed for, and how to manipulate it to provoke a fish to strike. To accomplish all of that, most expert fisherman carry a large assortment of jigging lures to meet the range of conditions encountered.